No fewer than 27 persons have reportedly been hospitalised following the crash of a digital digital asset trading platform, known as CBEX in Oyo State.
Nigerians who subscribed to what is now regarded as a Ponzi scheme took to their various social media platforms to lament their losses after CBEX allegedly swept over N1.3 trillion from investors’ accounts on Monday.
This comes as CBEX, operating without legal approval from the Nigeria Securities Commission, crashed on Monday with the money in their investors’ wallets vanished.
The digital platform also locked its Telegram channels and postponed withdrawals while offering investors the option of $200 for $2,000 verification and $100 for deposits below $1,000.
The development had sparked condemnations from Nigerians on X with some landing in hospitals.
A victim, Sherif Latifu, who resides in Ibadan said that many who lost money to the crash of the digital platform have now been hospitalised at various hospitals in the town, calling on Governor Seyi Makinde to help them to subsidise the hospital bills.
“Many hospitals in Ibadan are now admitting victims of CBEX fraud. Over 27 people that I know have been admitted. This is a major crisis in Ibadan and the governor should come to our rescue by subsidising the hospital bills for many,” he said.
Explaining the CBEX crash, a cryptocurrency expert and security analyst, Taiwo Owolabi said the total volume of stolen investors’ funds so far in USDT was $847 million and likely to increase.
Owolabi questioned why Nigerians would invest their money in a digital platform that was unregistered by the SEC with the promise of a 100 percent return on investment.
“They designed the weak website to convince people in the future that it was a security breach that affected them.
“Apparently, when you make payments, you pay them into a TRX account, and then, immediately, they move it from that TRX wallet, gather it, convert it to USDT, and then to ETH. So, when you are logging into your account, there is literally no money on your profile.
“What you see are just numbers. All the daily activities you do to ‘trade’ increase your money. All the AI trading is fake. When it’s time for withdrawal, they will send you another person’s money,” Owolabi explained on an X space.
The development comes after the SEC recently warned Nigerians to stay clear of unregistered trading platforms.
The SEC particularly pointed out that, in accordance with the ISA 2025 recently signed by President Bola Tinubu, it is now an offense for any entity to operate an online forex trading platform or provide related services without prior registration with the commission.
“By virtue of this act, it is an offense in Nigeria for any entity that is not registered by the commission to carry out the business of online foreign exchange trading platforms or related services.
“Any business entity planning to set up a business in any of these areas is advised to visit the HOD DRM Department of the commission for further direction on how to register with the commission to avoid sanctions,” it added.
Meanwhile, some residents of Ibadan, Oyo State have stormed the office of CBEX located at Oke Ado area of Ibadan in protest.
It was gathered that the residents stormed the office following the report of the crash of the platform, which scores of residents of Ibadan have invested in the online platform.
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